Water and Ice
by RainFlight31039
Summary: "Please understand, banishing you is the only way to remain who we are," After Ivan Braginsky was banished from his village, he takes to the sea in a desperate attempt to end his life but is saved by something, or rather, someone he never thought could exist. (Mermaid AU, Human AU, RusAme, slight FrUK, mentions of SuFin. Rating is subject to change! *CURRENTLY BEING REWRITTEN*
1. Ivan

The sea has always been a strange place for me, and as such, I am drawn to it. The pounding waves, the dark waters, the never-ending pool of change thrown to and fro against the rocky shore. It is so different from my usual life.

And I guess that was my first mistake.

(...)

My day started off like any other of those days in that cold northern village. Wake up before dawn to cold frost on the windows; and to the hunting dogs yapping in the distance. The hunters provide food and furs for the people here, so the dogs were there whether you liked them or not because we all needed them to live. This morning I woke up to my sisters moving around in the other room.

Our house is not big, just three rooms and a door, but it's all we need. The stove in the kitchen provides heat to the entire house, so we are reasonably comfortable as we are.

Getting up, the ground is hard and cold beneath the rug. My younger sister, Natalya is looking out of the window towards the sea. We can hear the crashing of the waves down at the seashore, a good 20 minute walk away from where we are at. She looks concerned and similarily, Katyusha, my older sister, looks worried. As I shuffle towards them, Natalya looks over in worry, moving closer to where I am standing. As we all look through the window, the door slams with the wind behind us, we all whirl around and the wind continues to beat on the door. Storms like this are not uncommon and it waking us up was not a first time thing.

We stay at the window, watching the sea thrash around for another half hour before Natalya falls asleep standing up.

Katyusha and I carry her back to her bed and lay her down. One might call us too close to be normal siblings, but for us: Natalya is the only thing keeping Katyusha from taking off to the warmer hills of the southern lands. Once Natalya has been covered with the old blanket that she's had since she was little, Katyusha gives me the look.

Sighing, I look at my eldest sister with pleading eyes. She gestures to the other room and I comply, following her to the kitchen. The stove is on, still running from when we had dinner many hours before the storm. Sitting down, Katyusha begins her same speech, but quieter. It is Natalya who does not need to be part of this conversation, as she is still young.

"Ivan, please see reason. We cannot stay here for another winter," she begins. I know its foolish to stay in this village so far away from civilization, but we can't move now, not when I am so close.

"Katyusha, I know it is foolish. But I am so close! Another month and all our troubles would be fixed!" I say, desperate for her to not force me away. Katyusha shakes her head and crosses her arms.

"No Ivan. That is what you said last year before winter and the year before. 'Another month! That's all I need!' I gave you your month! We need to go home," she says, gesturing with her arms at the cabin we call home.

I lean back into the wall and rub my eyes wearily. Unlike all other people in this village, we are not accustomed to such weather. Well, I am. Katyusha and Natalya: not so much. A few years after we moved this far north there was a terrible storm, I lost my sisters in the snow and found them days later cooped up in a small cave a few kilometers east of the village. Natalya has no memory of the incident, as she was just barely 6 years old when it happened. We sit in silence for a few minutes as Katyusha pulls out a worn book from underneath a bench.

Balancing it on her leg, it falls open to a well-fingered page that is home to a map back to where we came from. Letting one of her fingers touch the page. She traces the path back to a kingdom in the woods. _Home_.

I know she misses it, you would have to be brain-dead to not. But I promised my father to complete this. To find the answer, and I've never been so close. The wind gives off an extra loud howl just then, drawing us both out of our thoughts with a jump. She closes the book and replaces it back under the bench with a sigh.

We spend hours like this until Natalya wakes up and walks out complaining about the cold. Katyusha raises her eyebrow in mock surprise and spares a moment to send a glare my way.

Oh, if only you knew sister.

A/N

**I AM SO SORRY.**

**This story is probably going to be multi-chapter, and I apologize for not uploading anything in ****months.** **Life hits hard.**

**The characters are kinda OOC so apologies if that bothers you!**

**Also, just because I am horrible at writing, ages:**

**Natalya(Belarus) - 16**

**Ivan(Russia) - 21**

**Katyusha(Ukraine) - 27**

**Thx for reading! Please please please review!**


	2. Alfred

A court summons was never a good thing. It meant one of two things happened to you: one, you were going to be promoted and wealth would be poured on you, or two you messed up big time. Alfred assumed it was reason number two.

As he swam down the road into what could be called the most spectacular palace on this side of the reef. It was the palace of none other than his adoptive father: King Arthur. His rule had been a mysterious one, and effective at scaring off the relations of the neighboring kingdom, which was under the rule of the notorious Emperor Francis. Alfred knew that once upon a time Arthur had pursued marriage between the two countries through the Emperor's also adopted son: Mathieu. (Notp ಠoಠ)

Alfred was brought into the scene then: as a way to try and make the countries equal, Arthur had adopted him from a sea witch that lived in a cave just outside the known territories. She was old and having soldiers come and take her last son was probably not the best way to say goodbye to an ancient being. But, being love-stricken _cough_ by Francis drew no sympathy from Arthur. He left Alfred's mother a considerable sum of money, but nothing that might actually help the old woman.

And as such, Alfred came to live in Arthur's home village, set on top of a rocky ledge overlooking the sea grass fields: Atrinome. He liked it here, there were all sorts of creatures that came, day and day out to pay respects to Arthur, _or more like offering him stuff to keep his armed forces away from their homes._ Thought Alfred bitterly as one of the guards swam past him and down a tunnel. The village was a rather large one, but it might as well be a maze with how many tunnels and houses stacked on top of each other. He knew the way through this castle by heart, and getting to the throne room was easy thanks to the passages he had found his many years in the village.

Darting through one of the said passages, he came out in a hallway just outside the throne room. The walls were covered in paintings of previous rulers, none of which Alfred cared very much about. Examining one of the murals, he remembered the lesson his tutor taught him back when he was a young merboy. This particular queen was one who combined the forces of Emperor Francis' empire and Arthur's kingdom to defeat the Spanish (should he make an appearance..?) invasion from the south around 500 years ago.

Peeking through the door into the throne room, it was emptier than Alfred had ever seen it. Only around 4 mermen in full guard uniform stood around an empty throne. Closing the door quietly, Alfred leaned back against the stone outside the doorway and breathed heavily.

He eventually slid down the wall and curled up on the old stone floor. Waiting was so boring sometimes. Alfred may or may not have fallen asleep while waiting. He woke up to Arthur there, standing over him with his arms crossed and scowl on his face.

"And now, I understand why they thought this would be a good idea," he muttered under his breath, but still loud enough that Alfred could hear it. Alfred straightened up and pointedly glared at the ruler in front of him.

Arthur shook his head in answer to an unspoken question and dragged his adoptive son into the room by his arm. There was no time for funny business, apparently. Jerking him across the floor of the room, he garnered the attention of the soldiers in uniform who shot Alfred four identical glares. Curling his tail underneath him, Alfred looked up at Arthur, who was now perched on his throne.

"Alfred F. Jones, you have hereby been sentenced to execution by spearing at dawn-" he said, his glare unchanging, but was caught off by Alfred's outburst.

"What the heck? (A/N this is a cHrIsTiAn mInEcRAfT sErVeR BiLlY) Why?" Alfred yelled. Arthur gestured to the guards that had come in silently and were now surrounding Alfred with full out harpoons, spears, the whole shebang. Alfred's jaw hit the floor.

Maintaining the same unenthusiastic glare at Alfred's head, Arthur continued: "-for the unjust action of taking one of our most precious guard's life,"

Alfred thought back to when he had last interacted with a guard beside nodding in one's general direction. He guessed he had been falsely accused and raised a hand in defense.

Arthus saw this and immediately clicked his fingers. A guard brought forward a piece of orange-reddish fabric and Alfred's eyes went wide.

"Oh, that guy," he said slowly, his hand falling limply down to his side, "He was a guard?"

Arthur facepalmed.

"Yes! He was a guard. Gosh, you're so slow. Allistor: take him down to the dungeons,"

Alfred felt someone grab his arms and jerk him back towards the door, he moved without much thought as they made their way down below the ground level of the large castle. At the bottom of a tunnel, a door was opened and Alfred was thrown unceremoniously in, only for the door be shut and darkness to overtake his senses. There was only one window, and that was where Alfred headed first.

The bars were farther apart than one expected and Alfred easily bent one in half to make the hole slightly larger. He slipped through and glanced around. He was in some sort of cave, and he heard the gong echoing in the distance. They were already announcing his death, huh? That was strange. He straightened the bar the best he could and edged along the cliff on which the village was settled. Darting off into the waters he heading for the only sanctuary he had known the 18 years he lived here: his mother's cave.

**This was so rushed, but I wanted to get something out sooner or later. I promise plot holes will be explained eventually! This fic is probably gonna be around 14- 15 chapters, maybe. They are short. Thank you for reading! And please please please review!**


	3. Ivan (again)

It was maybe a few days later, or a month who knows when the sun stops shining this far north, that I had finally gained the courage to see the sea. I was busy pulling together a sack to take with me on one of my many adventures by the shore.

Preparing was always the easiest part of a journey. You can somewhat plan what you are going to do, and can estimate how much of anything you'll need, but it is often too much or too little.(_A/N believe me, I went to a camp once and brought enough tape to attach a grown man to a tree, I didn't even need tape._)

So when Katyusha saw me stuff four loaves of bread into a rucksack and then add that to my already very-full bag, she took matters into her own hands.

"Brother, stop. You don't need that much bread-" she said, taking the bread out of my bag. Upon taking it out, she also noticed other objects that should not be in the bag.

"BROTHER," Natalya screamed, very loudly may I add, "Why in the heavens do you have SIXTEEN PAIRS OF SOCKS,"

Ah.

I quickly closed my bag, keeping my sisters from questioning any more choices I may have made in packing. But, of course, that did not change their attitude at all. Both teamed up on me and a few painful moments later, Katyusha had me on the ground, under her boot, with Natalya holding my bag and scrunching her little nose inside.

"Sisters, please! I need those things!"

"Brother, "Katyusha said releasing me from under her shoe, "You do not need a pickaxe. I am more than sure that you also do not need every handkerchief we own, and you also do not need-" She was cut off by Natalya brandishing:

"Every key to our house? Brother! Do you want us to stay locked up here for days while you are gone?" Natalya exclaimed, the ring of identical keys clinking together as she swung them out of the bag.

I watched as they went through the rest of the bag, leaving me enough food and other provisions to last a while, and giving the bag a less full appearance.

"Brother," said Katyusha once they were done,"We are never letting you pack on your own again."

**So yeah. Short update purely because I wanna write childish Ivan. Please Please Please Review! Also, thank you to everyone that favorited :) really made my day!**


	4. The Ice Team

Flashback

The room was getting steadily colder and it wouldn't be much longer until the ice that coated the surface of the water would extend down below to the small child contained in the metal bars. It was one of the coldest days of the year so far and it had barely passed the 10th-month mark.

The child shivered as he gazed through the bars for what could only be the last time before the cold finally got to him. The man said he would be coming soon, a long time ago. When it was still warm. The child held his coral blue tail closer to his body, which was steadily approaching the same color.

It was right when the night began to fall that a loud scissoring sound was heard. The child looked up in dismay as the ice above him was cut away by a large shiny piece of metal moving back and forth in unison. Strange tongues floated down through the water and that child swam slowly to the top of his prison to better see the large blades.

Above, a man by the name of Matthias saw something shiny below the cold, gray waters. He angled his saw and cut cleanly through the thing, and motioned for his best friend, a man by the name of Lukas to come near. Lukas made his way over from the cart, where more and more ice cubes were being stacked. The two were stocking up on ice for the coming spring, as farther down in the valley there was a good sized town that frequently saw warm summers. They, however, were not from the blessed warm village, but rather from the colder northern one that was cleanly cut out of the side of a cliff.

Lukas, watched closely by Mattias, as the last thing he would want is for his "friend" to fall into the water, leaned over and carefully used his claw to pull the object out. It was heavier than either expected and Lukas, assisted by Mattias and another member of the crew, Emil, eventually pulled it up.

It was a cage and inside was a merperson. Well- merchild. Emil gasped and the child pulled further back into his cage. They all pulled the cage out of the water and used a saw to take the top of the metal cage off. The child contained within had blue eyes with hints of brown in the irises. He had dirty blond hair and curious markings on his face and shoulders. The child stared at them all with terror in his eyes, his form visibly shaking.

"Hey! Tino!" Mattias called. Another man, this one hefting a large block of ice, turned around and saw the child. He nodded quickly and set down his ice block, hurrying over.

"Moi, what's your name?" He said, kneeling down by the half-cage. Inside the child's eyes grew about four sizes as the man held out a hand. The child shivered violently as the cold wind gave a blast. Lukas, who was simply staring in awe at the merchild in front of them, quickly headed back to the cart, digging around and coming back with a brown coat about 2 sizes two sizes too big for the child.

Tino took the coat from Lukas and draped it over the child, who still looked petrified. Tino stood up and reached into the cage, picking up the small merman and cradling him in his arms. The small child looked somewhat more comfortable and began to shuffle around in the coat, pulling it closer to his small body. He smiled down at the child, to which Lukas to roll his eyes.

"Tino," Mattias who was looking into the water, whispered, "Something is down there," Lukas and Emil had joined Mattias who was standing by the hole in the ice previously made. The water was foaming up in bright blue bursts. With the ice around the hole melting fast, the three men moved away from the edge of the hole almost in perfect sync. As the water foamed higher and higher, shapes began to be formed. All the men at the sight had stopped all work and were watching the group of 4 which stood by as the foam grew steadily taller.

First, what looked like legs, then a body, and then a head. The figure grew taller, at least 6 meters tall.

The child watched as the figure became more detailed. Then, just as the face was morphed out of the pale blue foam, the face of a woman from the land over the sea. The seafoam woman held out her arms and the child delightedly jumped into them. Tino was surprised and the look of hurt that crossed his face as the child left his arms was enough to even make the head of the ice business, Berwald Oxenstierna, shed a tear. The splash the child made was small compared to the vibrating of the sea, and near-constant bursts of foam. The woman smiled down at Tino's form, which was still in the position to hold the child.

The woman's voice echoed from her in waves, bringing thoughts of summer in the meadows and joyful walks through woods, " Tino Väinämöinen, thank you for watching the child of the sea. In return, you will be blessed with your own son from the sea," Gusts of wind flowed over the group, causing coats to shuffle and hats to fly. Then, all at once, the winds stopped, and the warmth fled from the people and water. The ice stopped receding and instead grew back to its full thickness.

No one said anything except for the child, who's laughing voice echoed out from underneath the water:

"Mom!"

**A/N**

**...**

**I hate the ACT.**

**Just gonna say that.**

**I am so sorry about not uploading for a MONTH. I am so mad at myself, but I'm trying to save up for a trip this summer, and we had testing in school and my family came out from the west and uuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh it's been a crazy month.**

**Edit: I spelled Tino's name wrong and Berwald's as well... You will have to forgive the reuploading thing, but Tino Thefrickisyourlastname is sadly not canon. ;-;**


	5. Alfred (again)

Alfred forgot what kind of conditions the cave would probably be in after 12 or so years. At the very edge of civilization at least there wouldn't be as many people trying to make it their home. It was already night when Alfred had made his way out of the village, and he had been swimming away from Arthur for who knows how long. As Alfred thought about what Arthur had said to him, he almost ran into a tall spire of carved rock.

_This was always in front of my mother's house. _The rock itself was carved into the shape of his mother's sister's child. Someone Alfred had never met.

And so he was right. Swimming over the many rocks that sheltered the cave, Alfred spotted the old hidden entrance. It was overgrown with seaweed and there was probably a clam infestation on the inside, but the rock itself remained unchanged. Alfred swam carefully over to the entrance and moved some of the swaying weeds away from the dark hole inside. He couldn't see much besides what very little light made it through both the night and the water.

Alfred looked around outside the cave before ducking into his childhood home. Moving around in the pitch black, his hands outstretched, he felt for anything that might strike a bell in his mind. He felt the wall that his mother used to paint on when she was sad and missing her family, which were taken by another empire besides the one Arthur was supposedly trying to avoid. Alfred almost rolled his eyes at the thought. Arthur may try and hide his emotions behind a wall of gentlemanliness, but even Alfred, who couldn't pick up a social cue on his life, could tell that Arthur was smitten with the French Emporer. Continuing his search around the darkness, Alfred came upon what felt like the fire pit.

Alfred began to feel around the pit and, yes it was indeed the fire pit. It was a little warm already, but it must have been tampered with, or else there was something sitting on the magic source. Alfred didn't remember much of Arthur's lessons on magic because he already knew magic: Forester Magic. Arthur was all about incantations and strange symbols drawn on surfaces with various materials, but the kind of magic Alfred knew was much simpler. He remembered his mother using it to warm up someone in his distant memory when they were cold, and using it to send away all the bad dreams.

Alfred missed his mother.

At the thought of Alfred never seeing his mother again, the fire pit roared to life. Tall orange and yellow flames reaching to the ceiling and casting everything alight with beams of warmth. Alfred practically glued himself to the wall with how far he jumped back, his scream of terror caught in his throat. The fire pit had ignited, all by itself? Alfred tried to edge along the wall to the entrance when the flames died down. OUt of the middle came the face of his mother, one from when she was younger and apparently did not dissolve into a witch like Arthur had said.

"_My son_,' She spoke, "_If the fire has ignited it means that you have escaped from that-" _the image shook a little as if she was shuddering,"_\- man that took you and your brother_," Alfred stopped trying to escape and faced the fire. He had a brother?

"_I want you to keep my cave safe. All of the magic left from me and my sisters is stored here," _She said, a hand waving around to gesture to the cave, "_Don't bring anyone you can't trust in here, it's very important that no one messes with it,"_

Alfred was now very close to the fire, his mother smiled at him, through it and a warm feeling arose in his chest. Then his mother continued in a much softer tone, "_I love you, my son. Whichever you may be, I want you to find your brother. It's certain that your memories of me have been tarnished so I seem like a witch and that you have no brother. Do not believe their lies,"_

Alfred was captivated by his mother's story. His understanding was slow, but it did match up with how he remembered his mother and the stories Arthur had drilled into him about her.

"_To you, Alfred, if it is you, I love you so so much my dear. Never stop your enthusiasm and yearn for knowledge. It will lead you to great things. To you Matthew, if it is you, I wish I saw more of you without that pet blowfish of yours! I hope you are still as loving and compassionate as you were when you were a child. I love you, my son,"_

Alfred's eyes were wide by now. So his 'brother' had a pet blowfish? He had never heard of anyone with such a thing. His mother smiled one last time before her face vanished into the flames.

"No! Mom come back!" he cried, sticking a hand into the flames to grab the flames where she was. Flinching at the pain of the fire, Alfred pulled it back out. It was a little red, but who cared. Alfred got up and started dancing in delight. He saw his mom! He had a brother! Arthur would be so-

Alfred stopped celebrating.

Arthur would kill him.

Arthur _was out to kill him._

And here he is, sitting like a duck in the one place Arthur would check first.

_Crap._

**_(A/N)_**

**_HAHAHA, I LOVE WHEN NOTHING MAKES SENSE._**

**I have to go back and edit some chapters because I may have added a few things here and there because I can't make up my mind ;P**

**I hope this chapter made it to your expectations! And don't worry, we'll see Ivan again in the next chapter. I have _quite_ a few ideas for how to make him ****s̶u̶f̶f̶e̶r̶ end up with a happy ending! Also, the fire is magical fire. So don't question it. **


	6. Chapter 6 cause I've given up on titles

_If the world truly is a good place, why must those you love be the most frozen?_

It had been three weeks before Ivan returned home. And by returned, he slammed open the door with a terrifying look on his face and proceeded to take a piece of half-cooked meat out of Katyusha's soup, and tear it to shreds with his teeth.

Was Natalya happy her brother was back? Well, no, not exactly. Yes, she was glad he was still alive and that she no longer had to save Katyusha from the cattle that a neighbor owned, but honestly, her brother was just a little _much_ sometimes.

"Natalya, would you please listen to me?" Ah, yes, she was supposed to be paying attention. Her brother had gathered them together, meaning Katyusha was no longer making soup and Natalya was inside from cutting wood and were both sitting on the makeshift chairs that they had. Ivan was holding a small book that he had pulled out from underneath one of the benches. He still had bits of meat on his face and his eyes had a strange creepy light to them. His eyelashes had snow stuck to them, rapidly melting in the heat of the little hut.

"Thank you, as I was saying. I found a new place that I need to explore to prove that the treasure is, in fact, real," He said, sitting up straighter,"-and I want you two to come with me!" There was maybe a second or two of silence in that hut before Katyusha choked on her cup of water and had to get up to go cough by the window. Natalya's eyebrows flew upwards and the wind outside blew a little harder.

"W-_cough cough-_ WHAT?" Katyusha finally managed to get out, now using the window frame as a support while she coughed. Ivan turned to look at his elder sister confused.

"What do you mean what? I meant what I said, you two should come with me!"

"Ivan, I think you need to stop," Natalya said in a small voice. Katyusha, who had stopped coughing by now and made her way over to the table.

"Brother, please. Think about what you just said for a moment. You want me and Natalya to come with you _in the middle of winter_ to the wilderness to prove, and I quote 'to prove that the treasure is, in fact, real'" Katyusha said slowly, lowering herself into a chair and staring at Ivan through disbelieving eyes.

"Yes?"

Natalya facepalmed and stood up and almost tripped. No longer wearing long dresses, she and her sister had grown accustomed to the durable, warm pants that everyone up north wore, although she looked much skinnier and pale in them. Ivan thought she looked like their mother before she passed. Standing up straight, Natalya proceeded to say something along the lines of 'Ivan I don't believe you are thinking this through at all' before leaving and walking to her little section of a room.

Ivan sighed. So Natalya and Katyusha weren't as excited as him about this discovery. He honestly thought it would make his little sister at least smile!

Katyusha put a hand on his coat before retracting it because it was wet but said regardless, "Ivan, I've already told you this. Me and Natalya, we are not accustomed to this weather. We barely manage in this house, how do you think we would manage in the woods?"

Ivan sighed and his chin in his hand. This again? Katyusha, hearing his sigh, hmphed and attempted to leave the room, but Ivan's arm stopped her.

"Wait, Kat-"

Katyusha turned back to face him, "What, Ivan? Are you coming up with a reason for us to stay?" When Ivan remained silent, Katyusha breathed out heavily and smiled sadly.

"Katyusha, please. I owe this to father and mother, I need to do this, just give me one more month-" but was cut off by Katyusha's insane-sounding angry-laughter. **(Y'know, that kinda laughing that you do when you're being sarcastic?)**

"Ivan, I gave you another month. I gave you _years!_ If you can't find it in less than a week, I am going to drastic measures," Katyusha said, waving her arms around to represent the words spewing from her mouth, "And I will, Ivan. Don't test me again," a single finger poked the bridge of his nose as he stared at his older sister. Only three times had he seen his sister so upset, two of which had to do with a dead pet she had tried to keep while here. The other was when Ivan had first suggested they move up north.

He nodded and stood to face his sister. Although he was much taller, he still shrank underneath her glare. She motioned for him to leave and turned back to the stove, on top of which was the soup, long since forgotten.

Nodding to her, he left the cabin-hut home they had and once again went out to the snow.

.oOo.

Well, he was expecting this.

After leaving for another trip in the dead of night that would last about 3 days, Ivan came back with no new news. But he did come back to the mayor, and sheriff at his house. Walking in through the door, he was surprised, to say the least. The sheriff, a polite young man with glasses and a very serious expression, or at least, from what Ivan could tell. He never really talked to anyone in the village anyways, was standing next to Katyusha and stared point blank at Ivan once he entered. However, what drew his attention was the grim expression of the mayor. Or, mayor in part. The actual mayor, a slightly older Danish gentleman who was bedridden due to issues with his spouse, was not present. The man in the household was in his early twenties, maybe a bit older than Ivan, with brown hair and a kind expression. Although, his expression here was not kind.

Natalya was hiding in the corner behind her sister, looking scared, but not for herself, more for someone else. Katyusha's mouth was set in a straight line, with no emotion present on her face. There was a small trunk near the door, one that had been Ivan's when they first moved here.

The mayor in-acting stepped forward almost immediately after Ivan had glanced around the cottage once.

"Mr. Braginsky?" the mayor said, holding out his hand, which Ivan shook, "Why don't you have a seat. My name is Toris Laurinaitis. " aThey all took seats, save his older sister, whose face had now fallen into a scowl. The mayor did not attempt to make small talk but instead turned to the sheriff, who was now brandishing a rolled up scroll to Ivan.

Ivan took it and, glancing at the authorities, opened it. It was a letter saying:

Mr. Ivan Braginsky.

It is my humble duty, although I may to injured to rise from my bed, as mayor of this town to inform you, that you have been banned from this town forever. As asked by a certain Yekaterina Braginsky for not heeding warning signs of danger and repeating offenses set in place by the town. I.e. breaking in and stealing, returning and causing distress on multiple occasions and of course, murder.

This action takes place immediately, so you best hurry to leave before I set the dogs on you.

Signed, Matthias Køhler

**(A/N)**

**AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I AM SO SORRY**

**I meant to update and this has been sitting in my draft forever, but I was busy writing another story that me and my friends came up with that we are currently writing on Wattpad(hahaha i can't choose a website;-;) but then i thought! Oh! I should probably upload and then I remembered, wait this isn't done, so I had to finish it really fast and then i realized that they wouldn't meet until next chapter because spacing and I promise(but its gonna be broken) that i will update that in the next few days, once school calms down.**

**PLASE REVIAW THEY GIVE ME LIFE thank you!**


	7. Chapter 7

Alfred awoke to shouts in the distance.

At first, he was too groggy to fully comprehend what was happening but then sat up quickly. The fire in the cave was still burning softly as the sunlight rippled through the water from the surface far above. Alfred inched over to the entrance and peeked out between the seaweed covering the doorway. The large spires of rock were blocking most of the view, and the overgrown garden that his mother used to tend to drifting in the distance.

The shouts seemed to come from beyond the rocks, and a metal banging accompanied the voices. It did not seem to get any louder, nor closer. Just a loud noise meant to alert others to the presence of something. But what?

Alfred decided to find out.

He left the cave, fire immediately dying as he exited the premises. How that worked, he had no idea. Moving around the rocks, there seemed to be nothing in sight but a few schools of fish swimming lazily across the sea floor. The merman glanced around a bit more, and not seeing the voices, which seemed to come from all around, swam up. It would usually be dangerous to be this high up in the water, because of fishing, the two-legs, and being spotted by enemies. But seeing as his mother's cave was situated not only away from all other under-sea civilization, it was near a lagoon, and was relatively impossible to find unless you knew where it was.

Near the surface, the water was colder, and the light filtering through the water was much brighter. Alfred winced a bit, but the light was not as bad as the fire from that previous night, or nights(Alfred had no idea what happened after passed out from shock). The shouting and clanging were much louder up here near the surface so curious, Alfred burst through.

Big mistake.

It was _freezing. _Forget ever feeling warm again, the sun shone on this area every day! Shouldn't it be warmer? The sky was a blanket of white, and small white pellets of cold were whirling around very fast. Alfred instinctively went back down under and rubbed his arms to try and release some of the cold. Reemerging from the water, Alfred prepared himself for it but was still caught off guard about how _dang_ cold it was. Moving on from Alfred's dissatisfaction with the weather, the seawalls were before him. As were the voices.

The shouting came from further up still, and following his ears, Alfred looked up at the seawalls- er, _above-_seawalls. Did they seem to go up forever, maybe up to the palace of the gods? Yes. Yes, they did.

There was a man on the edge of the seawall, who seemed to be backing up rapidly. From Alfred's viewpoint, the man was burly and gruff, probably a criminal or something being pushed off the seawall. S'not like its never happened. If Alfred cared enough he probably could dig through the sand and find dozens of skeletons from the two-legs. They tend to want to get rid of people they don't like **(Alfred that was you, literally what, 4 chapters ago?)**.

Back to the man, it was not apparent what was pushing him back, just that he looked cautious. Alfred ducked closer to the walls to avoid detection, and simply watched in silence. The man was yelling in a two-legged tongue and seemed angry at someone. He was wearing a thick coat and a long piece of fabric around his throat. It honestly looked a light pink, but probably was closer to gray. Questioning why on earth a two-leg who was wearing a long piece of pink fabric was scared of something seemed a decent option at the time.

And then Alfred saw the small beasts.

Well, actually he was pretty sure they had a name in the two-legged tongue, but he forgot was it was. Dog..? Something like that? Anyways, they were big, mean, and were making noises like a strangled squid. The man seemed most frightened of them, so that was something. The man kept backing up slowly, and Alfred knew eventually would fall. to his death in the water.

But before the man was pushed off the seawall, a younger two-leg, this one with longer hair and airer clothes, ran up to him and hugged him. And then, to defy all known laws of the universe, pushed him off the seawall. The man screamed out and desperately tried to grab the other two-leg or anything at all, but he was just grasping at air.

As the man fell, the long piece of fabric around his neck was caught in the wind, making him seem like a fairy with it moving around in the wind.

Alfred came to his senses as the man hit the water.

Diving back under said liquid, Alfred found the man struggling to breathe due to the heavy clothing. His arms and legs were malfunctioning and moving in every direction, as the man was obviously confused. Sighing internally, he swam over to the man and held his arm, causing the man to flail even more. Holding his arms still, Alfred stared right on into the man's eyes, which were beginning to look a little red due to the water. Thinking fast, Alfred half carried half dragged the man over to the sea wall and out of the more open water. Then they broke the surface together. The man took deep gasping breathes and would've started yelling if Alfred hadn't slapped a hand over his mouth in time. Wordlessly, he pointed to the top of the seawalls above and gestured for the man to stay quiet. The man seemed to understand and did so. They huddled under a small outcrop of rock and attempted to stay as still as possible. Or at least, until the arrows came.

They zipped through the air and in dangerously accurate precision, seemed to target exactly where the two were hiding. One almost hit Alfred before he dived underneath the water, dragging the man under with him. He held on tightly to the man's upper arm and dragged unceremoniously behind him. Not really thinking at all, Alfred brought them both deeper to the lagoon floor, before heading to his mother's cave.

Time seemed to speed up as Alfred darted past schools of fish, the rock spires and long rippling plants on the ocean floor, to set on getting home in time to save the man.

He was almost past the garden of his mother when the man started tugging on his arm rather harshly. Looking back, ready to reprimand, Alfred noticed the man was too weighed down by his clothing to be able to move easily. That and he couldn't breathe.

Alfred didn't do anything about the man's dilemma besides hurrying onward to the cave. He was almost to the entrance when the man truly started to panic and began trying to escape Alfred's grip on his arm and swim upward to the surface. But Alfred was having none of that. He yanked the man, none too nicely into the cave.

As soon as he was inside, the fire relit and this time, was green. Bringing the man in as well, he all but shoved him into the fire. The man, already signing away his soul and praying for a good afterlife, just went with it.

And then, the man could breathe.

There was a green mist hanging about the man's head and tight pain in his neck. Alfred merely watched in mild fascination. The man timidly felt his neck beneath the long piece of fabric and discovered, out of all things. _Gills._

"I believe the phrase I should request in your tongue is 'thank you'," Alfred said dully to the man. The man just stared at Alfred in shock. How was he able to comprehend the strange sounds that came out the this... creature?

"Wh-what are you?" the man managed to choke out. Alfred grinned but quickly stopped on seeing the man's terrified expression.

"The name's Alfred. And you are..?" Alfred leaned on the table lazily.

"Ivan." The man- or Ivan- was standing awkwardly halfway inside the fire pit.

"Well, welcome to my home, Ivan. Glad to know your not dead,"

"You never answered my question," Ivan said hesitantly.

"Oh?"

"What.. are you?" Alfred sat down on the table and spread his arms wide in a sarcastic way.

"Oh, I think you two-legs would call me a merman or somethin',"

And with that, Ivan passed out.

**A/N**

**Upload schedule? What's that.**

**ANyways. Uh... school gets out for me in less than a week.**

**Hope ya'll enjoyed the chapter.**

**I so procrastinated on uploading this. **

**I apologize**

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF CHEESE REVIEW!**


	8. Update :P

**Hey guys, it's me, ya boi.**

Sorry that I've been dead but I am currently planning for my trip to Europe in a week, so my life is pretty hectic.

I am not going to publish a new chapter soon because I need to go through and fix the old ones. But, I'll update them all at once so you don't have to deal with a hundred notifications over a span of two weeks ;) I was rereading my own story because I am lame and realized some major plot holes that I didn't even mean to make, so I am going to not only A) Fix the darn spelling error that is killing me but also B) Explain the Nordic involvement and C) Explain the fire cause tbh I don't even know what the heck I was on when I wrote that.

Thank you to all of you that reviewed, they really do make my day, even if I don't get back to you!

Anyway, I just wanted to let you guys know what's going on.

BUT I WILL RETURN, EVENTUALLY. I'm not giving up on this story, not today. Not now.

Cheers Comrades,

RainFlight(follow me on Wattpad as well [ RainFlying cause I am uncreative], I write countryhumans on there lmao)


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